Benefits and Importance of teacher retention in Urban School Districts
Urban schools continue to face the problem of teacher attrition. Teacher attrition is the loss of teachers from one year to the next. This can happen when teachers use a school as a holding place, or stepping stone until they find greener pastures in a different school, district or profession. The rate of teacher attrition compared to other professions is high. The rate is double that of nurses and five times greater than that of lawyers (Waddell, 2010). Nationally, about 30% of teachers leave the profession within 5 years, and in urban schools this turnover rate is about 50% higher (Ronfeldt, Loeb, Wyckoff, 2013). In this page we sought to find articles and information impacting the retention of urban school teachers and to identify the costs, both monetarily and psychologically. This information will assist in helping us to better understand the factors that impact teaching retention, the cost of teacher retention, and the benefit that arises from retaining highly effective teachers.
Annotated Bibliography: Barnes, G., Crowe, E., & Schaefer, B. (2007). The Cost of Teacher Turnover in Five School Districts: A Pilot Study. National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.
In this 2007 research study, researchers looked to uncover the cost of teacher turnover in five school districts. Through the study the researchers conclude that when a teacher leaves a school the cost of recruiting, hiring, and training are substantial. In addition the researchers note that teachers leave school with high poverty, high minority and low student performances at a higher rate. This means that schools with higher rates of poverty spend more money on schools than those that are in a better socioeconomic position.
This article helps to understand the cost savings that can become a product of retaining teachers. States with limited budgets can develop strategies in which they could capture this savings and then in turn invest in deeper curriculum enriching programs, instruction, extracurricular activities etc. This article also helps to show how urban populations face a higher risk at experiencing more teacher turnover. If this research is accurate then Providence, where I hope to teach, experiences higher teacher turnover than schools in "south county." This is interesting because as an aspiring educator I hope to benefit from the opportunity to have a mentor who has been at a school for some time.
High Teacher Turnover Rates are a Big Problem for America's Public Schools. (n.d.). Forbes. Retrieved July 22, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/03 /08/high-teacher-turnover-rates-are-a-big-problem-for-americas-public-schools/
This 2011 article from Forbes magazine provides more monetary incentives to developing teacher retention strategies. Erik Kain, the contributing author, states that the main reasons for teachers leaving the school and/or the profession are a lack of planning time, workload, and not having an impact in school policy. Erik Kain estimates that the cost of teacher attrition costs are 7.3 billion dollars per year.
This article is four years newer than the research study exploring the costs associated with teacher attrition by Barnes, G., Crowe, E., & Schaefer, B. . This article also points out some of the contributing factors that push teachers out of the field. It is not surprising that salary is not one of the reasons Erik Kain cites for teachers leaving the field. Salary is not a contributing reason that leads to teacher attrition, however it is what the reformers claim needs to be done.
Varlas, L. (2009). Highly effective teachers: Defining, rewarding, supporting, and expanding their roles. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
This article explores defining what a highly effective teacher is the changing educational environment. Varlas indicates that research shows that students who have a highly effective teacher for three or more years score 50 percentile points better than students who do not have the same experience. Standardized test scores provide information, but that information cannot stand alone to determine the effectiveness of teacher effectiveness. Below is criteria that Varlas deems to impacts teacher effectiveness.
Effective teachers have high expectations for all students and help them learn, as demonstrated on value-added, test-based, or alternative measures.
Effective teachers contribute to positive academic, attitudinal, and social outcomes for students such as regular attendance, on-time promotion to the next grade and graduation, self-efficacy, and cooperative behavior.
Effective teachers use diverse resources to plan and structure engaging learning opportunities; monitor student progress formatively, adapting instruction as needed; and evaluate learning using multiple sources of evidence.
Effective teachers contribute to the development of classrooms and schools that value diversity and civic-mindedness.
Effective teachers collaborate with other teachers, administrators, parents, and education professionals to ensure students' success, particularly the success of students with special needs and those at high risk of failure.
This article helps to provide a definition for what an effective teacher is and or looks like. The article helps in understanding that determining the effectiveness of a teacher is not something that can be measured by student performance alone. The importance of highly effective teachers in the performance of students is calculated, and the results are overwhelmingly positive. Students who receive instruction from a highly effective teacher for multiple years achieve far greater success than students who are not afforded that opportunity. This statistic makes it even more important in urban public schools where a greater number of students are below the levels of proficiency set by the state.
This opinion piece in the business insider explores the pitfalls in the pay scale that occur at 90% of the school districts in the nation. The “lockstep pay” method is when teachers are given raises for time worked and degrees acquired. The article is a summary of research conducted by a nonprofit group called The New Teacher Project (TNTP). The report shows low average starting salary of a teacher compared to other professions. The article addresses that the profession of teaching is losing out on high quality candidates because of the entry level salary. Advocates of the “lockstep pay” method believe that it ensures that educators are paid fairly and encourage the advancement of degrees.
This article shows that in the current system teaching at a school in the district is the same as any other school in a district. This hurts schools that have larger gaps. Why would a teacher who is on a step scale want to stay at an under-performing school when they could teach at a blue ribbon school and make the exact amount of money? The fear is that since there is no incentive for highly effective teachers to be at schools with greater need, these teachers will leave and the urban school finds itself looking to fill another position. This article opens discussion on many polarizing issues such as unions and tenure. Diane Ravitch would disagree with reforming the current pay structure.
Published in the Philanthropy News Digest the article summarizes the efforts of research study done by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The study “found that new teachers quit in large numbers largely due to the fact that they receive inadequate professional development opportunities, insufficient emotional backing, and inadequate feedback with respect to their performance.” The article notes that the students who are most negatively affected by teacher turnover are those who are in high-minority and low achieving schools. In addition, rapid teacher turnover leads to a younger, more inexperienced workforce and puts a strain on district budgets.
This article again shows that money is not a factor in teacher turnover. Opportunities to develop professionally, receive support from administrators and authentic, genuine performance feedback are reasons why educators choose to leave schools. If retaining highly effective teachers is difficult in urban schools is difficult, is retaining highly effective administrators in urban schools just as difficult. If administration and leadership are leading factors in teacher turnover in urban schools than more efforts should be made to retain highly effective administrators in urban public schools.
The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) has selected criteria that can be assessed to determine the effectiveness of a teacher. This project is has been in full implementation since the 2012-2013 school year. Research shows that some of the characteristics that make up teacher effectiveness is not measurable, and therefore The Rhode Island Department of Education's effectiveness criteria should be closely examined. Rhode Island is in a similar position that many other states find themselves in. A position of limited budgets and resources. Research overwhelming agrees that teacher turnover costs districts a large amount of money. If urban schools could identify factors that predict teacher retention for the most highly effective teachers, not only would test scores rise, but the cost savings would be substantial.
Related Articles:
The Irreplaceables: Understanding the Real Retention Crisis in America’s Urban Schools. (2013). Education Digest, 78(6), 58-72.
Boyd, D., Grossman, P., Ing, M., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2011). The influence of school administrators on teacher retention decisions. American Educational Research Journal, 48(2), 303-333.
Ronfeldt, M., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2013). How teacher turnover harms student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 50(1), 4-36.
Waddell, J. H. (2010). Fostering relationships to increase teacher retention in urban schools. Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 4(1), 70-85.
Jacob, B. A. (2007). The challenges of staffing urban schools with effective teachers. The Future of Children, 17(1), 129-153.
Urban schools continue to face the problem of teacher attrition. Teacher attrition is the loss of teachers from one year to the next. This can happen when teachers use a school as a holding place, or stepping stone until they find greener pastures in a different school, district or profession. The rate of teacher attrition compared to other professions is high. The rate is double that of nurses and five times greater than that of lawyers (Waddell, 2010). Nationally, about 30% of teachers leave the profession within 5 years, and in urban schools this turnover rate is about 50% higher (Ronfeldt, Loeb, Wyckoff, 2013). In this page we sought to find articles and information impacting the retention of urban school teachers and to identify the costs, both monetarily and psychologically. This information will assist in helping us to better understand the factors that impact teaching retention, the cost of teacher retention, and the benefit that arises from retaining highly effective teachers.
Annotated Bibliography:
Barnes, G., Crowe, E., & Schaefer, B. (2007). The Cost of Teacher Turnover in Five School Districts: A Pilot Study. National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.
In this 2007 research study, researchers looked to uncover the cost of teacher turnover in five school districts. Through the study the researchers conclude that when a teacher leaves a school the cost of recruiting, hiring, and training are substantial. In addition the researchers note that teachers leave school with high poverty, high minority and low student performances at a higher rate. This means that schools with higher rates of poverty spend more money on schools than those that are in a better socioeconomic position.
This article helps to understand the cost savings that can become a product of retaining teachers. States with limited budgets can develop strategies in which they could capture this savings and then in turn invest in deeper curriculum enriching programs, instruction, extracurricular activities etc. This article also helps to show how urban populations face a higher risk at experiencing more teacher turnover. If this research is accurate then Providence, where I hope to teach, experiences higher teacher turnover than schools in "south county." This is interesting because as an aspiring educator I hope to benefit from the opportunity to have a mentor who has been at a school for some time.
High Teacher Turnover Rates are a Big Problem for America's Public Schools. (n.d.). Forbes. Retrieved July 22, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/03 /08/high-teacher-turnover-rates-are-a-big-problem-for-americas-public-schools/
This 2011 article from Forbes magazine provides more monetary incentives to developing teacher retention strategies. Erik Kain, the contributing author, states that the main reasons for teachers leaving the school and/or the profession are a lack of planning time, workload, and not having an impact in school policy. Erik Kain estimates that the cost of teacher attrition costs are 7.3 billion dollars per year.
This article is four years newer than the research study exploring the costs associated with teacher attrition by Barnes, G., Crowe, E., & Schaefer, B.
. This article also points out some of the contributing factors that push teachers out of the field. It is not surprising that salary is not one of the reasons Erik Kain cites for teachers leaving the field. Salary is not a contributing reason that leads to teacher attrition, however it is what the reformers claim needs to be done.
Varlas, L. (2009). Highly effective teachers: Defining, rewarding, supporting, and expanding their roles. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
This article explores defining what a highly effective teacher is the changing educational environment. Varlas indicates that research shows that students who have a highly effective teacher for three or more years score 50 percentile points better than students who do not have the same experience. Standardized test scores provide information, but that information cannot stand alone to determine the effectiveness of teacher effectiveness. Below is criteria that Varlas deems to impacts teacher effectiveness.
This article helps to provide a definition for what an effective teacher is and or looks like. The article helps in understanding that determining the effectiveness of a teacher is not something that can be measured by student performance alone. The importance of highly effective teachers in the performance of students is calculated, and the results are overwhelmingly positive. Students who receive instruction from a highly effective teacher for multiple years achieve far greater success than students who are not afforded that opportunity. This statistic makes it even more important in urban public schools where a greater number of students are below the levels of proficiency set by the state.
Zeveloff, D. (2014, July 18). Why Public Schools Need To Change The Way They Pay Teachers Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-schools-need-to-end- lockstep-pay-for-teachers-2014-7#ixzz38CVGrPap. . Retrieved July 20, 2014, from http://www.businessinsider.com/why-schools-need-to-end-lockstep-pay-for- teachers-2014-7
This opinion piece in the business insider explores the pitfalls in the pay scale that occur at 90% of the school districts in the nation. The “lockstep pay” method is when teachers are given raises for time worked and degrees acquired. The article is a summary of research conducted by a nonprofit group called The New Teacher Project (TNTP). The report shows low average starting salary of a teacher compared to other professions. The article addresses that the profession of teaching is losing out on high quality candidates because of the entry level salary. Advocates of the “lockstep pay” method believe that it ensures that educators are paid fairly and encourage the advancement of degrees.
This article shows that in the current system teaching at a school in the district is the same as any other school in a district. This hurts schools that have larger gaps. Why would a teacher who is on a step scale want to stay at an under-performing school when they could teach at a blue ribbon school and make the exact amount of money? The fear is that since there is no incentive for highly effective teachers to be at schools with greater need, these teachers will leave and the urban school finds itself looking to fill another position. This article opens discussion on many polarizing issues such as unions and tenure. Diane Ravitch would disagree with reforming the current pay structure.
York, 79 Fifth Avenue New, & 10003620-4230, N. (n.d.). High Teacher Turnover Hurting Students, Study Finds. Philanthropy News Digest (PND). Retrieved July 22, 2014, from http://www.philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/high-teacher-turnover-hurting-students-study-finds
Published in the Philanthropy News Digest the article summarizes the efforts of research study done by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The study “found that new teachers quit in large numbers largely due to the fact that they receive inadequate professional development opportunities, insufficient emotional backing, and inadequate feedback with respect to their performance.” The article notes that the students who are most negatively affected by teacher turnover are those who are in high-minority and low achieving schools. In addition, rapid teacher turnover leads to a younger, more inexperienced workforce and puts a strain on district budgets.
This article again shows that money is not a factor in teacher turnover. Opportunities to develop professionally, receive support from administrators and authentic, genuine performance feedback are reasons why educators choose to leave schools. If retaining highly effective teachers is difficult in urban schools is difficult, is retaining highly effective administrators in urban schools just as difficult. If administration and leadership are leading factors in teacher turnover in urban schools than more efforts should be made to retain highly effective administrators in urban public schools.
The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) has selected criteria that can be assessed to determine the effectiveness of a teacher. This project is has been in full implementation since the 2012-2013 school year. Research shows that some of the characteristics that make up teacher effectiveness is not measurable, and therefore The Rhode Island Department of Education's effectiveness criteria should be closely examined. Rhode Island is in a similar position that many other states find themselves in. A position of limited budgets and resources. Research overwhelming agrees that teacher turnover costs districts a large amount of money. If urban schools could identify factors that predict teacher retention for the most highly effective teachers, not only would test scores rise, but the cost savings would be substantial.
Related Articles:
The Irreplaceables: Understanding the Real Retention Crisis in America’s Urban Schools. (2013). Education Digest, 78(6), 58-72.
Boyd, D., Grossman, P., Ing, M., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2011). The influence of school administrators on teacher retention decisions. American Educational Research Journal, 48(2), 303-333.
Ronfeldt, M., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2013). How teacher turnover harms student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 50(1), 4-36.
Waddell, J. H. (2010). Fostering relationships to increase teacher retention in urban schools. Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 4(1), 70-85.
Jacob, B. A. (2007). The challenges of staffing urban schools with effective teachers. The Future of Children, 17(1), 129-153.